Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A day in Paris

Here we are at the train station in Landstuhl and what should I see but a McDonald's across the way. Sure enough, McDonald's has invaded the Mother land.

It was cold this morning, but not to worry, the weather channel said Paris will be 50 degrees and sunny. But no problem, I had on my silk long underwear, my fleece jacket, my jeans and warm socks and shoes. And I brought a scarf. I was going to be warm.

We waited in the inside waiting room for the train. We hopped it and off we go to Paris. The trains are sleek and fast. We rode the train into Paris in 2 1/2 hours. It was great. Finally my my feet hit the Paris ground! We go from the train to the subway system and take another train to downtown Paris.

Jemimah asks help from a shop owner who was just setting things out.

Jemimah had scheduled a ride on a sightseeing tour. It was great. First we saw all these store owners putting out their wares. It really is something to see.

Then we caught the bus at the Louvre. Imagine, "hey what are you doing? Not much just catching a bus at the Louvre! "It seems so bizarre. Yet here we are in front of the Louvre.

Well, the Weather Channel was Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. It was cold.The sun did not shine, the clouds did not go away and the wind did decide to blow hard. So it was a great day to ride inside the double-decker tour bus. We saw all kinds of buildings-stone building after stone building after stone building, with some kind of facade that looked like they had been done all the same. Don't start emailing me about the difference in windows and roof lines made in the 7 century, they really look all alike.

I have never seen so many stone buildings. I mean blocks and blocks, and miles and miles.

Can you see these in every mile of your hometown? There were some differences but one thing stood out was that there were homes, businesses, cafes and restaurants and dry cleaners etc. in each block. So each block and each mile had a unique culture. Latin, Italian, and so many more I didn't know. But it went on forever. I told Jemimah, what really made me wonder was how much this must have cost. Every time we went around a corner we found out how Napoleon had ordered this monument or that "house." It was as if money was no object. (Hey when our politicians start building monuments to themselves, it is a bad sign. Just keep a look out!)

Notre Dame was one of our first excursions off the bus. (You can get on and off this bus system with one payment all day long.) I thought Notre Dame was very tall. Since I have not grown up in a Catholic environment, I am not sure how I feel about it spiritually. But wow, what a structure. It was very impressive. The inside was just as impressive as the outside.

It was truly beautiful. Hey, did I mention it was cold? In fact Adam said they had a snow storm at Baumholder! Thank goodness it didn't snow in Paris.

We decided that since it was really rather chilly we would just stay on the bus and see everything from there, except you guessed it the Eiffel Tower.

Yes there it is right before your eyes. There is the Eiffel Tower. It was great. The line was long and I was getting chilled, so we did not go up on the Eiffel Tower. Sorry.

It was enough to see it. We did however buy some "...Fries!"

It was worth the cold to go see the one the only Eiffel Tower!But not worth any more freezing cold weather. So we stayed on the buses and saw the rest of Paris by bus. I noticed several things about Paris sitting in a bus, everyone drives like a crazy person and the city always seems to be going somewhere, but not to the same place. I loved seeing the people in an everyday type of way. I saw real Paris on a weekday and not a holiday or summer or weekend. I saw Paris working, and I must say, Parisians work. I don't know where they were going or what they were doing, but a town that size can't survive without a lot of people working. And they are always in a hurry, so I hope they are in a hurry to make business work. Hurrah for Paris!

We got to our train station had some espresso and I wish this picture was of the cafe we drank our coffee but, did I tell you it was cold?

The espresso was good, and now I am wired even after traveling home on a high speed train. Soon I will get some rest, but I just couldn't help telling you about "Tanya's and Jemimah's 'venture in Paris!"